It’s November, and Celebration is in the AIR

We’re just one month away from the official beginning of the 2023 holiday season, when folks take to the highways and skies to visit friends and relatives, which is why it makes sense that we recognize November as National Aviation Month.

More than 55 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more to spend Thanksgiving with friends and family in 2023, including an estimated 4.5 million air travelers, from Tuesday through Thursday. The busiest day, however, will be Sunday, November 26, when most folks book flights to travel back home, packing airports (and likely racking up vouchers when they get “bumped” from their over-booked flights).

The first official celebration of aviation in the United States was designated as August 19, 1939, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared Orville Wright’s birthday as a date to celebrate aviation achievements. Born in 1871, Orville and his brother, Wilbur, patented the first powered plane, which Orville piloted in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. In less than half a century, commercial aviation became a popular form of travel.

But aviation history predates the Wright Brothers by thousands of years. The first recorded aviation experiments took place around 350 B.C., in China, with silk-and-string kites. In the 15^th Century, Leonardo DaVinci created the first models of modern aviation, with the parachute, the propeller, and an “ornithopter,” which flew in the style of a bird.

Passenger aviation began with hot air balloons, developed in France in the late 1700s. (Perhaps you noticed the dozens of brightly colored hot air balloons navigating the skies around North Georgia this past weekend?)

Today, more than 200,000 flights occur daily, whisking passengers and cargo around the globe. And aviation continues to evolve, with space travel, satellites, drones, and more.

Of course, if you or a loved one is planning to fly over the Thanksgiving holidays, experts recommend the less-packed days to travel, including the Friday before Thanksgiving for arrival, and departure on Thanksgiving Day or the Friday after.

Whether you are traveling out of town or hosting Thanksgiving holidays at home this year, Windsong homeowners find holidays less stressful than they once were, with homes you can confidently “lock and leave” while you enjoy your travels, and open floor plans providing ample entertaining space and room for guests.

Welcome to Windsong, Where Life’s A Breeze!